Media Release

During the week of February 14, 2011, through February 20, 2011, Big Island police arrested 26 motorists for drunk driving. Five of the drivers were involved in traffic crashes. Four were under the age of 21.

So far this year, there have been 194 DUI arrests compared with 230 during the same period last year, a decrease of 15.7 percent. The numbers of arrests by district were:

DUI Arrests by District

District

Weekly Total

Year to Date

Hamakua

0

1

North Hilo

0

1

South Hilo

10

71

Puna

3

27

Ka’u

0

1

Kona

13

83

South Kohala

0

10

North Kohala

0

0

Island Total

26

194

There have been 195 major accidents so far this year compared with 187 during the same period last year, an increase of of 4.3 percent.

So far this year, there were five traffic fatalities on the Big Island compared with six fatalities during the same period last year, a decrease of 16.7 percent.

So far, the five fatalities this year were not related to drugs only (0), alcohol only (0) or a combination of both (0 of the 5).